Month: April 2015

Dear Friends, while I am up to it I want to share with you my absence. On Saturday April 4th my wonderful 24 year old son Justin was killed in a car accident. I can not even tell you the pain that myself, his father, and his brother are in. Justin was an amazing kid with such a great spirit and love for all things. If you want, you may follow me on Facebook at Sheila DeChantal where I am posting occasional updates. Beyond that I am unsure when I will be able to return to this spot, although I do hope that some day I will.

Good morning! It is Friday! To me that means the end of the week, coffee meet up, project clean up, letters to write, meetings to plan, a work out or two and considering what Easter will be like this year and what should I make….

Yesterday I had the privilege of being part of a round table discussion with the two main actors in the movie The Longest Ride, Scott Eastwood and Britt Robertson. I am going to write about that interview tomorrow, but today I wanted to talk a bit about the other people who were at the round table with me.

Going into this “adventure”, I was not really sure who would be in the room. Once I was there I seen it was a group of bloggers. A good group of them were really young bloggers, some even in high school. A couple (thankfully!) were closer to my age.

We went in the room with the actors and we were each allowed to ask one question – I will share with you tomorrow what I asked as I think it was a great question and an even better answer… but that is…

another story.

After the interview time, I was speaking to the lady sitting next to me whose name is Ruth and she runs the blog flixchatter. We hit it off chatting about how thankful we were to see each other in a group of young(er) bloggers. We exchanged cards and walked out of the Minneapolis hotel together chatting like old friends (you know how we bloggers are!)

Flixchatter. See what she is writing about. Tell her your friend Sheila sent you 🙂

Then… in the elevator on the way down there were a few of us from the interview and I asked them if they were bloggers. (We really did not have a chance to say who we were , where we were from, or what we did). They said yes, and Donna from Donnahup.com handed me her card. I did not really get a chance to chat with her as we were all on our way out, but I did check out her cool website this morning. Her site is all books and movies, crafts and recipes, travel and giveaways. It’s a site you can spend some serious time checking out.

And… my final mention of the morning is I have a winner for the giveaway package I had going for The Longest Ride. Using the magic of Random.org this morning my winner is:

Congratulations to Christina! She won the $25 Visa gift card, the coveted by me tote, and the book, The Longest Ride! Email me your shipping information at journeythroughbooks@gmail.com and I will pass on your information to have that sent to you. YAY!!!

Have a super start to your weekend. I am thrilled to have the morning to do some catching up as my morning commitment was postponed until next week. It has been a while since I had a free morning and I am taking full advantage. 🙂

I am participating in a LOVELY Spring Blog Hop hosted by My Book Self. Win a book here! Check out the details of what I am giving away and how you can enter here! (It’s pretty exciting!!!!) *This is a sticky post and will remain at the top of Book Journey through April 12th when a winner is chosen.

I am at my son’s apartment where I am currently drinking coffee out of his Harry Potter mug and enjoying the absolute quiet. He is still sleeping and I never noticed at home but the dogs and the background noise of the equipment from our excavating business must create some sort of low-level noise because this here is

QUIET.

And I like it.

I am in Minneapolis because Justin (son) and I went to the pre-showing of the movie The Longest Ride last night. It was kind of a cool invite and we were told that when we came to the theater that we were supposed to check in with the studio rep and to be there by 6:45 pm.

We were there around 6:35 pm and we were directed to a LONG LINE of people waiting to get in at the door they had mentioned. Justin and I walked to the end of the line and waited in the line that barely moved until 6:55. I asked Justin to go check out the front of the line and see what was happening. I was hoping we were doing this right as this was my first invite of anything like this.

Justin disappeared around the corner and then came back waving me forward. We were doing it wrong. We went to the front of the line, checked in with the lady with the clip board and on in we went. It was a little crazy as there were security people letting us into the theater.

We were told to stay in our seats after the movie because Twentieth Century Fox was there filming for future advertising and wanted shots of the crowd. We watched the movie (which was really good!) and afterwards we sat there as we were told and a side door opened and…

YES! A side door opened and Scott Eastwood and Britt Robertson walked in to the front of the theater. We had a fun 20 minutes with them as they answered questions about the moving, bull riding, their “romantic scenes” together….

What a fun event!

Yesterday I razzed up the whole “I am not a fan of country things” and I have to admit to a little softening of the heart today. The movie was very good and opens at the theaters on April 10th. This afternoon I have the opportunity of sitting at a round table and asking these two stars questions about the book that became a movie. I am geeky excited and nervous all at the same time.

Also, my giveaway I am hosting for the $25 Visa card, tote, and copy of The Longest Ride book is still going on. If you have not signed up… you should. Winner will be drawn this Friday.

Do you have any brilliant questions I should ask?

Growing up, Eden was used to her father, David’s, whimsical ways. He was always letting her stay home from school to go on adventures with him. Eden’s mother constantly was at odds with David and his inability to hold down a job just added to the household tensions. When Eden’s father returns home after a short stay in a mental hospital, 10-year-old Eden finds him on the floor of their bathroom having slit his wrists. This attempt on taking his life leads to Eden’s parents divorce.

Twenty years later Eden has a successful catering business. Since that fateful day all those years ago Eden has seen her father only on rare occasions. She occasionally hears that he is living on the streets or staying in a shelter. Eden, who has poor attempts at relationships with men, wonders if perhaps if she could try to repair her relationship with her father would help her be a better person for someone else. While searching for her father, Eden meets Jack.

Jack is everything Eden would want in a man. He is kind and thoughtful. Jack also decides to help Eden find her father. Yet as the two get closer to what Eden is looking for, more comes to surface than she had planned. Secrets her mother had kept, and the question of if her father even wants to be found.

I thought the synopsis of this book was engaging. A story centered around mental illness and what it does to the family living with it. While the story unfolds through Eden’s eyes, you also slowly learn of what it was like for her mother to be in love with a man that just could not keep it together.

Narrators Candace Thaxton, and Corey Brill create a flawless flow throughout this read. A book that would work well for a summer read, Outside The Lines is an interesting look into a family trying to move on. The end comes together a little too neatly, but still worth a read or listen.

Hey all! Happy Wednesday! (I actually had to think for a minute as I typed that, “Is it Wednesday?”) The week as usual is moving

FAST!

I told you a little bit a week ago about my invite to a round table discussion with the actors of The Longest Ride (Nicholas Sparks latest book to movie), Scott Eastwood and Britt Robertson. That happens tomorrow afternoon in Minneapolis Minnesota. A new addition to all of this is that my son and I are going tonight to a special invite at the Mall Of America to a preview of the movie.

HAZAH!

I am totally “got my geek on” excited! I have two dresses picked out for the events… my husband thinks I am crazy (but I think we all knew that already) and my son is loving how I just jump in and LIVE LIFE.

For long-term readers of Book Journey, you may know a few things about me. One that might be important right now is my strong aversion to all things country. (Ok not quite all things, I have a really great friend who is from Alabama and I really like her!) For whatever reason I do not like cowboy boots, cowboy hats, westerns, cowboy related books or movies, or country music. There. I said it. I feel…. lighter somehow. 😀

I have no idea why I feel this way and have come to believe that perhaps as a small child a cowboy kicked me or took away my lollipop and I have buried this deep hurt yet have a trigger (pun intended) knee jerk when something is country near me.

Anyhoo…. before I digress too far…. the next two days may cure me. 😀 I leave this afternoon to meet up with my son for dinner and then off to the movie we will go! I am staying overnight at my sons apartment this evening in the cities, tomorrow I will meet and talk with the actors and then come back home.

Crazy cool…. and I really hope I get at least one great picture. A girl can dream….

Last thing – I recently posted about a giveaway for a $25 Visa card to see The Longest Ride movie, a cool tote, and a copy of the book – if you have not entered yet I hope you do! I will draw (having trouble letting go of cowboy words) choose the winner on Friday morning using random.org. Enter here!